“Then you’re no better than he is,” she declares.
Her words hit me like a bullet, and the air between us changes. Fire roars beneath my skin.
“I’m nothing like him,” I growl, my jaw clenched. “I might wear a cut, but that doesn’t make me some kind of monster, Cora. Have I done things I’m not proud of? Yes. But I have never robbed a woman of her innocence like he has. Wanting to protect you should be proof enough of that for you.”
She places her hands on my chest and shoves me back, breaking the contact between us as fury fills her face. “The only thing it shows me is that I made a mistake coming to that motel room.”
I snort. “Stop lying to yourself, Cora. You know there’s something between us. You’d never have told me the truth if there wasn’t. And what happened with us in that motel…” I shake my head. “You felt that too. I know you did. Why do you think I need to do this? Why do you think I’d risk everything to take out a threat to you and Harrison?”
“If you do this, it just shows you don’t respect me or what I want. You want to go down this path? Fine, kill him, but know this… only in a biker’s world would this be a conversation between two people. Feelings or no feelings, me and my son won’t be associated with that kind of life.”
I gape at her, not knowing what to say.
She’s right, this isn’t a normal conversation. This isn’t the way things work in the regular world. But doesn’t she understand? Doesn’t she know that letting this go means knowing he’s still out there, breathing the same air as her, and that I just can’t let that happen?
“He’s followed you, Cora,” I say, the anger in my voice gone. “He’s come to the place where you work. What happens if I’m not around to stop him?”
Cora squares her shoulders. “I’ll deal with it.”
“You shouldn't have to. Let me protect you.”
“I have to go back to work.”
She tries to maneuver around me, but I stop her, putting myself between her and the door. “You can’t go home while he’s in town,” I reason. “So you’re staying with me.”
“Like fuck I am. I have a son, remember? A job, my parents.”
Taking her hand in mine, I raise it to my lips. “They’ll be fine. He doesn’t know where you live. You told me that yourself.”
“No,” she snaps, her voice hard, but I can tell she’s wavering.
“Stay with me, Cora, please.” I press a kiss to the back of one hand, and then the other. “We’ll finish out your shift, get your stuff, and then you and I can go back to the motel just until he’s gone.”
Cora looks away, her jaw ticking as she thinks.
“I’ll respect your wishes, baby, but you’ve gotta respect mine. Let me keep you and Harrison safe.”
When her eyes meet mine again, I know I’ve won the battle. “Fine,” she says with an exaggerated sigh. “But I’m only doing it because you said please.”
I smile. If that’s all it takes, I’m about to say that word more than I’ve ever said it before.
CORA
“Which bed are you sleeping on?”I ask as I come out of the bathroom. I’d washed my face, brushed my teeth, put on a nightgown that’s admittedly much sexier than the ones I usually wear, and now I just want to go to bed and forget the past few days ever existed.
TK pulls his shirt over his head and shrugs. “Depends. Which one are you sleeping on?”
I point to the one closest to the bathroom, then pull back the blankets and slide under them. My eyes are only closed for a second when I hear the rustle of fabric, then something hit the floor.
He didn’t.
I peek through a slit eye and realize that he did. TK had just dropped his pants in the middle of the floor and was stalking toward me in all his naked glory. I’m about to protest, but he moves to the bed I’m in and pulls back the covers on the other side.
“Excuse me! I’m sleeping in this one.”
Sliding his legs beneath the blanket, he covers himself up to his waist and turns to face me, propping his head up with his hand, giving me a shit-eating grin. “I know.”
My belly dips. “Get out!”